Bob Dylan: Nobel Prize in literature awarded

Bob Dylan was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize early Thursday morning “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” The Swedish Academy shared the news on Twitter and on NobelPrize.org after Professor Sara Danius, Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy, made the official announcement.

“He is a great poet,” Danius said after the ceremony. “He is a great poet in the English speaking tradition and he is a wonderful sampler, a very original sampler. He embodies the tradition and for 54 years now he has been at it, reinventing himself constantly, reinventing himself, creating a new identity.”

Dylan released his first album Bob Dylan in 1962 and steadily rose to fame writing folk-rock songs with political and social messages. Tracks like “Blowin in the Wind” and “Like a Rolling Stone” became anthems in the ’60s. He continued releasing critically acclaimed, beloved albums like The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963), The Times They Are a-Changin’ (1964), and Blonde on Blonde (1966) throughout the ’60s, and has released 37 studio albums to date, including this year’s Fallen Angels, which came out in May.

See all the Nobel Prize announcements and an interview with Danius below.